Niki Lauda

Niki Lauda

Nation:	Austria
Automobile / Formula 1 world championship
First start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1971
Last start:	1985 Australian Grand Prix
Constructors
1971–1972  March  • 1973  BRM  • 1974–1977  Ferrari  • 1978–1979  Brabham  • 1982–1985  McLaren
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Champion ( 1975 , 1977 , 1984 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 171 25th 24 24
World Cup points :	420.5
Podiums :	54
Leadership laps :	1,590 over 7,055.6 km

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna ; † May 20, 2019 in Zurich ) was an Austrian automobile racing driver , entrepreneur and pilot . He started in Formula 1 between 1971 and 1985 and was world champion three times .

Origin and private life

Niki Lauda was the son of Ernst-Peter and Elisabeth Lauda and a grandson of Hans Lauda . Both the father and grandfather were influential industrialists, as a result of which Lauda grew up in a wealthy family environment. At the age of 15 he bought his first car, a VW Beetle Cabriolet, built in 1949, which he said he was doing "every imaginable nonsense" and which cost him more than his pocket money gave. That's why he worked as a truck passenger during the holidays. His family was against his ambitions in motorsport, which is why the determined Lauda fell out with them completely. As a result, he used his name, known in Austria, to obtain loans from various banks, with which he then financed his way to Formula 1.

Lauda was married twice. After being engaged to Mariella Reininghaus for years , he met Marlene Knaus in 1975, whom he married in 1976. The sons Lukas Lauda (* 1979) and Mathias Lauda (* 1981) come from this marriage . The marriage was divorced in 1991. In 2008 he married Birgit Wetzinger. His twins Max and Mia, born in 2009, come from this second marriage. Lauda also has a son (Christoph) from an extramarital relationship, who was born in 1981. Lauda's son Mathias has been driving automobile races since 2002; His older brother Lukas looks after him as manager. In 2011, Lauda rejoined the Roman Catholic Church .

Since Lauda's kidneys began to function poorly as a result of the medication after his accident in 1976, two kidneys (living donor organs) were transplanted one after the other. The first was donated by his brother Florian in 1997, the second by his future wife Birgit in 2005.

After a serious lung disease , the trigger of which was hemorrhagic alveolitis , Lauda had both lungs transplanted in August 2018 at the Vienna General Hospital by a team led by Walter Klepetko . He was released from the clinic on October 25, 2018. When complications arose with one of his donor kidneys, he had to undergo dialysis treatment . Lauda died on May 20, 2019 at the age of 70 with his family after a three-week stay at Zurich University Hospital .

On May 29, 2019, Lauda was the first athlete to be laid out in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna . Afterwards, a requiem with around 300 guests of honor took place in St. Stephen's Cathedral , before Lauda was buried in his racing overalls, away from the public in the immediate family circle, at the Heiligenstadt cemetery in Vienna (part A, group M, number 17).

Athletic career

Beginnings in racing

Niki Lauda in the 1973 6-hour race on the Nürburgring

As a 19-year-old - in his first race, the hill climb on April 15, 1968 in Bad Mühllacken - Lauda immediately finished second in its class with a Mini Cooper S 1300. In 1969 he started with a Kaimann , sponsored by Erste Österreichische Sparkasse , Vienna, in Formula Vee . In the Kaimann team, he replaced Helmut Marko , who switched to Formula 3, and competed in the Austrian championship with Erich Breinsberg . Lauda achieved his first victories in Monza and Sopron and he took several second places. In 1970, Lauda survived several spectacular accidents in Formula 3 . He then described Formula 3 as an “insane formula”, in which he no longer wanted to be “a maniac in a field of two dozen maniacs”, and switched to Formula 2 . In order to earn money for entry into Formula 1, he drove sports car races in Porsche 908/2 and touring car races in the early 1970s . In 1973 he won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with a BMW Coupé, among other things .

formula 1

1971 to 1974

Lauda's first Formula 1 race was the Austrian Grand Prix on August 15, 1971 for March -Ford, in which he failed. In 1972 , Lauda bought a cockpit at March-Ford with a loan from the Raiffeisenbank in the amount of two million schillings . In 1973 he drove for the British team BRM a twelve-cylinder with which he at the Monaco Grand Prix , in third place lying the Ferrari of Jacky Ickx was able to keep at bay what Enzo Ferrari offered him a contract for the 1974th

Ferrari was successful with sports cars at the time , but the company had not won a world championship in Formula 1 since 1964. In 1973 Ferrari did not take part in some Grand Prix (including in Germany ). Lauda formed a successful trio with the head of the racing department, Luca di Montezemolo , and designer Mauro Forghieri , which led Ferrari back to sporting relevance. Lauda confirmed the sports management's decision to give up sports cars and concentrate fully on Formula 1. The new model was tested and further developed on the in-house test track at Fiorano .

When the Briton Roger Williamson had an accident in Zandvoort in 1973 and burned himself to death in his March, Niki Lauda drove past the burning wreck, like some other drivers, without helping. Lauda attributed this to the fact that the situation was difficult to see in the short period of time, as only a driver could be seen in the smoke, putting out a vehicle. Annoyed by a reporter, he initially lost the statement: "I'm a racing driver and not a firefighter."

In 1974 Ferrari was successful again with the new 312B3 . Lauda won his first Grand Prix victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jarama on April 28, 1974, but missed the world title due to several failures, such as. B. the collision with Jody Scheckter shortly after the start of the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring , while team-mate Clay Regazzoni achieved victory there. He was also inferior to his teammate Regazzoni in an internal duel. At the end of the season Lauda was fourth in the world championship with 38 points. He won two races, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix . Emerson Fittipaldi became world champion in a McLaren ahead of Lauda's team-mate Regazzoni.

First World Cup in 1975

Niki Lauda (1974)

In 1975 , Lauda set the tone in the further developed Ferrari 312T model (now with transversely installed gearbox) by the designer Mauro Forghieri with five victories of the season and, among other things, drove as the first and only driver on the then 22.8 km long Nürburgring in training for the Grand Prix of Germany with 6: 58.4 minutes a time of under seven minutes. After standing partly in the shadow of Regazzoni last year, he now dominated the world championship and became Formula 1 world champion for the first time this year, as the first Ferrari driver since John Surtees in 1964. He finally fixed the title with third place on September 7th in Monza , where he was only half a point missing (after the race at the Österreich-Ring had previously been canceled due to heavy rain).

In the election for Austrian Sportsman of the Year , Lauda came second behind the skier Franz Klammer .

At the end of the season, Luca di Montezemolo left Ferrari to work in the management of the parent company Fiat . Montezemolo was replaced by Daniele Audetto , who had previously driven long-distance car races with Montezemolo. As a result, Lauda had a rather tense relationship with Audetto and was repeatedly at odds with him on questions of team strategy.

1976 season and accident at the Nürburgring

Niki Lauda in Saturday training at the Nürburgring. Note that the eye area is clearly visible, as with other pilots. At that time, however, there were face masks that only had two eye holes and aprons on the lower edge of the helmet.

In the first half of the 1976 season , Lauda was once again superior, won four out of eight races, was not among the top three thanks to the extremely reliable Ferrari 312T only once and was clearly leading the world championship, although he was in a tractor accident on his property near Salzburg had broken two ribs and was only able to drive the Spanish Grand Prix on painkillers. Through the accident and the rehabilitation phase , Lauda met Willi Dungl , who had previously worked with the Austrian Olympic team. Dungl subsequently played an important role as Lauda's physiotherapist throughout his subsequent sports career.

After James Hunt, Lauda achieved the second-best training time at the Nürburgring , which was, however, slower than last year due to rule changes (including the ban on the previously towering airbox ). It was raining before the German Grand Prix on August 1, 1976, which after a contract had expired as the last Formula 1 race on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring . Except for Jochen Mass , who had a lot of experience at the ring, all drivers started the race on rain tires. After the first lap they switched to slicks on the drying track; only Ronnie Peterson drove on with rain tires. The Ferrari mechanics were slower than most English teams; Lauda was only in the lower midfield on the second lap, but soon overtook a few competitors. Shortly after passing through the Adenau district of Breidscheid , he had an accident in front of the mine section . The television did not have a camera there, but two amateur filmmakers managed to capture footage of the accident on Super 8 film , which was released the following days. The international media interest in this event was great for weeks and the German tabloids in particular wrote intensely about Lauda's accident and facial injuries.

Amateur film recordings of a French viewer reveal how the Ferrari 312T2 suddenly turns outwards (i.e. to the right) after passing the left-hand bend, which is now unofficially named after Lauda, ​​crashes into a rock face, hurls along the road and goes up in flames.

The almost 200 liters of gasoline in the vehicle partially leaked and immediately ignited. Lauda briefly passed out. Some of the cars that followed crashed into Lauda's vehicle, while others were able to stop. A traffic jam formed, the track was blocked and the race had to be stopped. The pilots Brett Lunger , Guy Edwards and Harald Ertl tried to save Lauda, ​​but only Arturo Merzario managed to loosen Lauda's seat belts, while Ertl was able to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher and Lunger Lauda helped Lauda out of the burning wreck after more than half a minute. Lauda had worn a specially modified AGV helmet (illegal according to the regulations) with extra thick foam pads for greater comfort, but lost it in the fire because the foam pads compressed and the helmet jumped off the head. (Lauda in an interview in 2006: "The helmet was lighter, more comfortable, but actually too big for me. It sat too loosely on my head. I don't think the Bell helmet would have blown away.") The manufacturer later paid Lauda a high price Compensation amount. When Lauda regained consciousness and stumbled across the track in great pain, John Watson, who had also been assigned, laid him down off the track. While he was locked in the cockpit, he suffered burns to his head, as the balaclava only consisted of several layers of flame-retardant material in the face area and was thinner and more comfortable in the helmet area because loss of the helmet was not taken into account. Lauda also inhaled toxic fumes and smoke gas, which injured the lungs.

The cause of the accident was never officially announced. Niki Lauda himself writes in his book Meine Story from 1985 that he considers it most likely that the right rear trailing arm was torn out. This would cause the right rear wheel to twist backwards and the car would suddenly turn right.

Originally, the ambulance was supposed to follow the race track for kilometers uphill (about 300 m difference in altitude) and then downhill on the country road to Adenau to the hospital there. At the instruction of Hans-Joachim Stuck , however, when the race was now canceled, this approx. 20 km detour was not made, but instead drove against the normal direction of travel to the Breidscheid exit only a few 100 m away. These mostly long distances for rescue vehicles were one of the reasons for the decision not to use the 22.8 km long Nordschleife for Formula 1 races.

After the restart, Hunt won the race in the McLaren.

From the hospital in Adenau, Lauda was first flown in a helicopter to the Bundeswehr central hospital in Koblenz , then to the accident hospital in Ludwigshafen , where there is a severely burned center. There, however, the lung burns from inhaling the toxic smoke from the plastic body and the extinguishing foam proved to be much more critical than the skin burns , which is why he was transferred to the Mannheim Clinic on the same day . Lauda fell into a coma, he received the anointing of the sick in the clinic . However, he recovered quickly, also thanks to the renewed support from Willi Dungl, who as a therapist led the development of Lauda's physique, changed his diet and acted as his masseur.

Just 42 days later, after two missed races, Lauda drove one of now three Ferraris at the Italian Grand Prix , as Carlos Reutemann had already been signed as a replacement, which Lauda did not like: “We could never stand each other and instead of taking the pressure off me they owed [d. H. Ferrari] on me even more by hiring Carlos Reutemann. ”Lauda finished fourth, with bleeding wounds. The burn injuries to his eyelids made it difficult for him to blink and his vision was limited. Although he saw his rescuer Arturo Merzario for the first time during the race, he did not thank him for the rescue, which he later regretted. Numerous operations and transplants followed. Hunt won the two races in America, Lauda came third only once; Lauda explained this with the Ferrari, which was less competitive in the cooler autumn conditions.

In the last race, the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji , Lauda was in third place on the grid behind Hunt, who had won four Grand Prizes since the accident but was still three points behind in the drivers' standings. Ferrari won the constructors' world championship because Regazzoni had collected more points than Jochen Mass . The start was postponed for a long time in pouring rain and fog, but was then carried out before it got too dark. Lauda parked his car after the second lap for safety reasons, the second still active former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi did the same, as did Carlos Pace and Larry Perkins . The offer of Forghieri to give a technical defect as the reason for Lauda's departure was rejected by Lauda. Hunt led at times, but then fell back after a pit stop, initially believing the title to be lost when crossing the finish line and only found out about his triumph when parking in the pit lane. He finished third and won the world title by one point. Also triggered by Lauda's accident (as well as by Jackie Stewart's safety campaign) and the months of reporting in the mass media, there was slowly a further rethinking of the safety of the routes and drivers, and safety regulations were gradually tightened in the coming years.

The 1976 racing season was the subject of the 2013 film Rush - Anything for Victory . The role of Lauda was played by Daniel Brühl .

Second world championship 1977

Lauda in the Brabham - Alfa Romeo BT46 (1978): "The vacuum cleaner"

Lauda became Formula 1 world champion for a second time in 1977 . But even before the end of the season there were renewed differences with Enzo Ferrari, since Lauda had signed a contract with Brabham for 1978 . Brabham's owner, Bernie Ecclestone , who later became the head of Formula 1, had tried repeatedly to sign Lauda since late 1975. His successor Gilles Villeneuve has already contested the last two races in Lauda's place. His last race for Ferrari was thus the third last of the season in Watkins Glen, the US Grand Prix on October 2, 1977. At this point, Lauda's title was already certain. Lauda later expressed dissatisfaction with Ferrari: “My last season at Ferrari, although I won my second world championship, was the worst. I still suffered from their reaction after my accident. In addition, I was very happy with Regazzoni as a team partner and Reutemann didn't want it. (...) I just wanted to win the world championship to show them that I had recovered from the accident and then get out there, do something different, take on a new challenge. ”For his second title win, he was Austria's 1977 athlete of the year excellent.

1978 and 1979 with Brabham

The red cap of Brabham sponsor Parmalat became Lauda's trademark. Although the novel Lotus (which were the first F1 racing cars whose road holding was determined by the ground effect ) dominated, Lauda achieved some success in 1978 with the Brabham, which had an Alfa Romeo engine. At the end of the season he was fourth in the world championship.

The 1979 season, however, was very disappointing. Lauda therefore resigned in late September 1979 during training for the Canadian Grand Prix ; he justified this - after eleven failures in thirteen races and only four championship points - with a lack of motivation and the sentence “Why should I go around like a fool with the others?” and from then on devoted himself to flying and building my own Airline . He also commented on several Formula 1 broadcasts on television.

1982: return to Formula 1

Lauda, Dutch Grand Prix 1982

Helmet design from 1982

To support his airline, he returned to Formula 1 in 1982 to drive a McLaren , which, thanks to its innovative construction made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, was much safer than the previous aluminum structures . The technical changes to the cars during his break had been considerable, mainly due to the ground effect : “I couldn't believe what had happened to the cars during my two-year absence. When I got back the ground effect was at its peak and I was amazed that a car could be so bad to drive. They weren't really cars anymore. There was no warning when the limit was reached because you didn't notice any difference. "

Before the Grand Prix of South Africa , Lauda was, alongside Didier Pironi, largely responsible for the drivers' strike against the new provisions of the super license; Lauda interpreted the clauses as potentially harmful to the negotiating position of the drivers and possible driver changes between the teams. Lauda and the other drivers (with the exception of Teo Fabi ) threatened a boycott and barricaded themselves in a suite - a measure that Lauda considered necessary in order not to endanger the unity of the pilots. Lauda was immediately competitive again, even though the team only had the naturally inferior Ford naturally aspirated engine available, which was particularly evident in 1983 . He pushed for the early use of the TAG turbo engine designed by Porsche , against the will of his designer John Barnard , who did not want a compromise car for the rest of the 1983 season. When the Dutch Grand Prix , the McLaren-TAG Porsche Turbo was first used, but he was not in any of the four races in 1983 more to the finish. In late 1983, Lauda's teammate John Watson was replaced by Alain Prost , who had been fired from Renault .

Niki Lauda took part in the opening race of the converted Nürburgring on May 12, 1984: Well-known racing drivers of the past and present were invited to this show race, including Alain Prost, Carlos Reutemann, John Watson, Jacques Laffite and Klaus Ludwig as well as the former Formula 1 -World champions Jack Brabham, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Denny Hulme, James Hunt, Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg. All 20 participants drove identical Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 touring cars. Since Lauda could only arrive on the evening before the race and was not present at the qualifying run, he had to tackle the race from last place on the grid and overtook all drivers who had started before him, with the exception of the then Formula 1 newcomer Ayrton Senna , who won this race .

Third World Championship 1984

Lauda in the McLaren MP4 / 2 at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix

The 1984 World Championship was a stable duel between Lauda and his new teammate Prost, whose move to McLaren Lauda had originally wanted to prevent. The McLaren dominated that year, winning twelve out of sixteen races. Lauda, ​​who won five races this year, won this world championship by half a point, the closest gap in the history of Formula 1. Lauda was there - unlike during his time at Ferrari, in which he won pole positions many times. Position and was mostly the faster in the team-internal duel - mostly inferior to his teammate in training and rarely reached his speed. So instead of focusing on training, Lauda began to work on setting up his car for the race during the training sessions. “Since I knew that I couldn't beat him there, I just concentrated on the race.” In the decisive race, the Portuguese Grand Prix , Prost won his seventh win of the season, but Lauda started from a rear eleventh place on the grid second place, which was enough for him to win the title. Immediately after winning the title, Lauda spoke generously about the crushed Prost and assured him that he would surely win the title next year. A move to the Renault team that was planned at the end of 1984 did not materialize.

In 1985 Lauda had a series of failures due to technical problems and his team-mate Prost became world champion. Lauda only won one Grand Prix - his 25th and last in Zandvoort, the Netherlands. Lauda's resignation at the end of the 1985 season had been decided; Lauda later named the dominance of his teammate Prost as a reason for his resignation. During the press conference on the occasion of Lauda's resignation, team boss Ron Dennis attributed his success entirely to McLaren and the designer John Barnard; Conversely, Lauda praised Dennis afterwards, but criticized the cooperation with him and the team-internal atmosphere: "McLaren is not a team like Brabham, where everyone likes each other ..." During the race in Belgium , Lauda injured his wrist and decided not to take part in the race. He also did not take part in the subsequent European Grand Prix ; McLaren replaced him with John Watson. Lauda drove his last race on November 3, 1985 at the (failed - only eight in the rating) Grand Prix of Australia , where he, while in the lead, retired on the 57th lap due to a tire failure.

Lauda turned down an offer from the then Brabham boss Ecclestone for the 1986 season .

Aerospace operator

Lauda Air Boeing 767-300

Niki Airbus A320

Niki Lauda 1996

In 1979 Lauda, ​​who was a pilot himself , founded the first Lauda Air as a demand airline with two Fokker F-27s . After the re-establishment, the first scheduled flights to the Far East started in 1988, and Lauda Air has had a worldwide scheduled flight concession since 1990.

On May 26, 1991 there was a serious accident with 223 fatalities on Lauda Air flight 004 when a Boeing 767 crashed in Thailand .

In 1992 a closer cooperation with Lufthansa began , and in 1997 Austrian Airlines (AUA) took a 36% stake in Lauda Air. In 2001, the stake was increased to 55% and then to 99%. In 2002, Lauda Air was completely taken over by Austrian Airlines, Niki Lauda had already left the airline on November 21, 2000. In 2003 Lauda Air became part of the Austrian Airlines Group .

As part of the insolvency of Aero Lloyd , Lauda took over the majority stake in Aero Lloyd Austria GmbH and founded its own airline again at the end of November 2003. This operated under the name Niki Luftfahrt and used the marketing name flyniki for its external appearance in the first few months . At the beginning of 2004 the name of the airline was determined with NIKI . There was a close cooperation with Air Berlin . On July 5, 2010, Air Berlin and flyniki announced that Air Berlin would increase its stake to 49.9% with the option of a full takeover. On November 8, 2011 it was published that Lauda had transferred the remaining capital shares to Air Berlin. According to media reports, Lauda will also take on the position of a board member (non-executive director) at Air Berlin PLC.

At the beginning of 2016, Lauda took over the Viennese commercial airline Amira Air (today Laudamotion , brand name only Lauda since March 2019 ). The airline operated flights for the upscale clientele with its 15 business jets.

On January 23, 2018, when Air Berlin was broken up, Lauda was awarded the bid for the Austrian parts in the second attempt and thus bought back the Air Berlin subsidiary Niki in order to integrate it into the Laudamotion. To do this, he entered into a cooperation with Ryanair , of which he sold a stake in March 2018. Ryanair took over the company completely by the end of 2018. In March 2019, Lauda resigned as managing director, but remained chairman of the shareholders' committee.

Other entrepreneurial activities

Motorsport

In the 1990s, Lauda was back in motorsport and initially acted as a consultant for the unsuccessful Ferrari team from 1993 to 1995, where he helped reorganize the team and a. the commitment of the then world champion Michael Schumacher for the 1996 season . From February 6, 2001 to November 26, 2002, Lauda was employed by the British Formula 1 team Jaguar (first as race director, then as team boss).

In addition, Lauda became co-host of the Formula 1 programs Formula 1: Countdown and Formula 1: Highlights on RTL in 1996 . He stayed with the broadcaster as an expert on Formula 1 broadcasts until the end of the 2017 season. At the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix , Lauda caused a stir when he referred to Robert Kubica as "Polacken". Despite criticism from the moderator Florian König , he initially stuck to his choice of words. At the request of RTL, he apologized to Kubica.

At the end of September 2012, Lauda was appointed chairman of the Mercedes Formula 1 team. At the beginning of 2013 he acquired 10% of the shares in the racing team.

Rental car

In October 2003, Lauda started the rental car service Lauda Motion GmbH with a partner in Vienna. He copied the concept of mobile advertising from the German provider maxhopp and rented out small cars with advertising (Smart, Mini, Fiat 500, BMW 1 series) as rolling advertising pillars . In October 2009 he left Lauda Motion GmbH. His partner Stefan Miklauz took over Lauda's 51% stake and continued under the name City-Motion.

advertising

In October 2012, Lauda testified as a witness against his former cap sponsor Michael Seidl, with whom he had signed a four-year contract with a volume of 1.4 million euros annually in autumn 2010. Lauda advertised the Money Service Group on his cap, known as his trademark . According to Lauda, ​​he only received the sum of 400,000 euros, and a worthless investment was sold to him for 500,000 euros.

Others

The red cap was Lauda's trademark, on which a sponsorship was placed. He wore it to keep the bandage on after his accident and stayed with it to hide the scars from his burned scalp.

In 2004 Lauda was appointed to the supervisory board of ÖBB , which he left after a few months.

Lauda made a guest appearance in the 1990 film Fire, Ice & Dynamite , in which James Bond actor Roger Moore played the lead role. In 2006 he was heard as The King in the Disney-Pixar production Cars .

In January 2011, Niki Lauda made derogatory comments about a dance couple consisting of two homosexual men who were supposed to appear on the dance show Dancing Stars . He feared that children would become confused by and one had to justify one day, heterosexual to be.

Niki Lauda's grave

George Harrison's song Faster is inspired by Lauda's comeback after his serious accident at the Nürburgring.

Honors

• Lauda was accepted into the Lord Jim Lodge on an honorary basis .
• In 2016 Lauda received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards .
• In 2019, the Austrian award for Sportsman of the Year , presented by the sports journalists' association Sports Media Austria (SMA), was renamed Niki .
• In 2019, a driveway to Vienna International Airport was named Niki Lauda Allee and a plaque for Lauda was placed at the airport .

statistics

Career stations

1970: French Formula 3 1971 : Formula 2 (10th place) 1971 : ETCC (31st place) 1971 : Formula 1 1972 : Formula 2 (5th place) 1972: British Formula 2 (champions) 1972 : Formula 1

1973 : Formula 1 (17th place) 1973 : ETCC (7th place) 1974 : Formula 1 (4th place) 1975 : Formula 1 (world champion) 1976 : Formula 1 (Vice World Champion) 1977 : Formula 1 (world champion) 1978 : Formula 1 (4th place)

1979 : Formula 1 (14th place) 1979: Procar series (champions) 1982 : Formula 1 (5th place) 1983 : Formula 1 (10th place) 1984 : Formula 1 (world champion) 1985 : Formula 1 (10th place)

Statistics in the automobile / Formula 1 world championship

These statistics include all participations of the driver in the Formula 1 World Championship , which until 1980 was known as the Automobile World Championship.

Grand Prix victories

1974:  Spain  ( Jarama ) 1974:  Netherlands  ( Zandvoort ) 1975:  Monaco  ( Monte Carlo ) 1975:  Belgium  ( Zolder ) 1975:  Sweden  ( Anderstorp ) 1975:  France  ( Le Castellet ) 1975:  USA  ( Watkins Glen ) 1976:  Brazil  ( Interlagos ) 1976:  South Africa  ( Kyalami )

1976:  Belgium  ( Zolder ) 1976:  Monaco  (Monte Carlo) 1976:  Great Britain  ( Brands Hatch ) 1977:  South Africa  (Kyalami) 1977:  Germany  ( Hockenheim ) 1977:  Netherlands  (Zandvoort) 1978:  Sweden  (Anderstorp) 1978:  Italy  ( Monza ) 1982:  USA West  ( Long Beach )

1982:  Great Britain  (Brands Hatch) 1984:  South Africa  (Kyalami) 1984:  France  ( Dijon-Prenois ) 1984:  Great Britain  (Brands Hatch) 1984:  Austria  ( Spielberg ) 1984:  Italy  (Monza) 1985:  Netherlands  (Zandvoort)

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1971	STP March Racing Team	March 711	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	STP March Racing Team	March 721  / 721X / 721G	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1973	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160 C / P160E	BRM 3.0 V12	14th	-	-	-	-	-	2	17th
1974	Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 3.0 B12	15th	2	3	-	9	3	38	4th
1975	Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3 /  312T	Ferrari 3.0 B12	14th	5	1	2	9	2	64.5	1.
1976	Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 312T /  312T2	Ferrari 3.0 B12	14th	5	2	2	3	4th	68	2.
1977	Scuderia Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 3.0 B12	14th	3	6th	1	2	3	72	1.
1978	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT45C  /  BT46  / 46B	Alfa Romeo 3.0 B12	16	2	3	2	1	4th	44	4th
1979	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT48	Alfa Romeo 3.0 B12	13	-	-	-	-	-	4th	14th
1982	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4 / 1B	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	14th	2	-	1	-	1	30th	5.
1983	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4 / 1C	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	10	-	1	1	-	1	12	10.
		McLaren MP4 / 1E	TAG 1.5 V6 Turbo	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4 / 2	TAG 1.5 V6 Turbo	16	5	4th	-	-	5	72	1.
1985	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4 / 2B	TAG 1.5 V6 Turbo	14th	1	-	-	-	1	14th	10.
total				171	25th	20th	9	24	24	420.5

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1971
								DNF
1972
	11	7th	DNF	16	12	DNF	9	DNF	10	13	DSQ	NC
1973
	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	13	9	12	DNF	DNF		DNF	DNF	NC
1974
	2	DNF	16 *	1	2	DNF	DNF	1	2	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1975
	6th	5	5	DNF	1	1	1	2	1	8th	3	6th	3	1
1976
	1	1	2	2	1	1	3	DNF	1	DNF	INJ	INJ	4th	8th	3	DNF
1977
	DNF	3	1	2	DNS	2	2	DNF	5	2	1	2	1	2	4th
1978
	2	3	DNF	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	1	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	3	1	DNF	DNF
1979
	DNF	DNF	6th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th
1982
	4th	DNF	1		DSQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	1	8th	DNS	5	3	DNF	DNF
1983
	3	2	DNF	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	DSQ	6th	DNF	DNF	DNF	11 *
1984
	DNF	1	DNF	DNF	1	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	1	2	1	2	1	4th	2
1985
	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	1	DNF	DNS	INJ	DNF	DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
1969	Kaimann team	Porsche 910	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
												21st
1970	Kaimann team	Porsche 908	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
												6th
1973	Alpina	BMW 3.0 CSL	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
							7th
1974	Ford Germany	Ford Capri	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
				DNF

Publications

• with Fritz Indra and Herbert Völker: Formula 1. Technology and practice in Grand Prix racing. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-85368-817-9 .
• Protocol. My years with Ferrari. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-85368-843-8 .
• with Herbert Völker: My story. Orac Verlag, Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-7015-0025-8 .
• with Fritz Indra, Herbert Völker: The new Formula 1. The Turbo Age. Orac Verlag, Vienna 1992, ISBN 3-85368-910-8 .
• Self-portrait of childhood and adolescence. In: Florian Langenscheidt (Ed.): At home with us. Celebrities talk about their childhood. Econ, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-430-15945-8 .
• with Herbert Völker: The Third Life. Heyne, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-453-11572-4 (hardback), ISBN 3-453-13880-5 (paperback).
• with Heike Kossdorf, Daniel Winkler: Niki Lauda. Everything under one roof. Styria Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-222-13266-7 .
• with Conny Bischofberger : Let's talk about money. edition a, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-99001-143-0 .

literature

(in chronological order)

• Helmut Zwickl : Niki Lauda. Reporting a career. Ueberreuter, Vienna / Heidelberg 1975, ISBN 3-8000-3133-7 .
• Peter Lanz: Niki Lauda. A picture of life. Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-485-01782-5 .
• Peter Lanz: Niki Lauda. The way to triumph. Ullstein Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-548-34292-2 .
• Ernst Hofbauer : I don't give a damn about Austria. Tricky Niki's home defeat. Ibera, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85052-121-4 .
• Martin G. Wanko : The desert is alive! The day that Niki Lauda died. Edition Keiper, Graz 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502516-0-9 .
• Erich Breinsberg : Niki, Keke and the genius from the suburbs. Egoth Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-902480-58-3 .
• Hartmut Lehbrink: Niki Lauda - from the outside to the inside, 1949–2019. 2nd Edition. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2019, ISBN 978-3-667-11749-6 .
• Maurice Hamilton: Niki Lauda. The biography: "It is not easy to be perfect" , Edel Books, Hamburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-8419-0725-7 .

Movies

• 1986: The birthday of the future - 100 years of the automobile . TV show, ARD / ORF / SRF, 165 min., Director: Michael Pflegehar ; Co-moderation and leading role in the film: Niki Lauda.
• 2000: Legends , episode 02x02: Niki Lauda. Documentation, ARD, 45 min., Director: Christian Weisenborn.
• 2010: On your own - How athletes overcome strokes of fate. Documentation, 3sat / ORF, 45 min., Director and screenplay: Hannes M. Schalle .
• 2013: Rush - Everything for victory . Feature film, director: Ron Howard , screenplay: Peter Morgan .
• 2014: 33 Days - Born to Be Wild , also: Lauda: The Untold Story. Cinema documentary, 90 min., Director: Hannes M. Schalle .
• 2015: Mayday - Alarm in the cockpit , episode 14x02: Niki Lauda: Tragedy in Thailand. Documentary, National Geographic Channel, 50 min., Director: Tim Wolochatiuk.
• 2019: Summa cum Lauda - the incredible path of the Niki Nationale. Documentation, ServusTV, 45 min., Director: Niki Mahatsek.

Web links

Commons : Niki Lauda  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Niki Lauda in the catalog of the German National Library
• Niki Lauda in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Portrait of Niki Lauda . In: MercedesAMGF1.com
• Michaela Seiser: Niki Lauda. Lone fighter at the limit . In: FAZ.net , April 6, 2009
• What are friends anyway? In: Sueddeutsche.de , Interview, July 9, 2010
• Hedi Schneid: Niki Lauda is dead: a life in the pole position . In: DiePresse.com , May 21, 2019
• Archive recordings with Niki Lauda in the online archive of the Austrian Mediathek

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "Niki Lauda (70) is dead" , on salzburg24.at from May 21, 2019
2. ↑ The Laudas - an empire made of Viennese blood. ( Memento from July 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: styriabooks.at. Retrieved on February 21, 2014 (PDF; 302 kB, page 19).
3. ↑ Lauda, ​​Hans. Lexicon entry at aeiou.at.
4. ↑ What are friends anyway? In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 9, 2010.
5. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976. Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , pp. 2 ff.
6. ↑ Obituary on religion.orf.at [1]
7. ↑ Tuvia Tenenbom: "Racing drivers come to hell" , Die Zeit from May 16, 2014, accessed on May 21, 2019
8. ↑ Niki Lauda's doctors explain how the emergency operation came about. In: Focus online , August 8, 2018.
9. ↑ Niki Lauda received a lung transplant. orf.at, accessed on Aug. 2, 2018.
10. ↑ Niki Lauda had to undergo a lung transplant in Vienna. vol.at, August 2, 2018.
11. ↑ "The engine is humming again with Niki Lauda". In: faz.net , October 25, 2018.
12. ↑ Niki Lauda died in the university clinic in Zurich. In: heute.at , May 21, 2019.
13. ↑ Niki Lauda is dead. In: Sueddeutsche.de. May 21, 2019, accessed May 21, 2019 . 
14. ^ ^{A b} Funeral service - Lauda as the first athlete laid out in St. Stephen's Cathedral. In: kleinezeitung.at . May 27, 2019, accessed May 27, 2019.
15. ↑ His helmet is also included - Lauda is buried in racing overalls. In: kleinezeitung.at . May 24, 2019, accessed May 27, 2019.
16. ↑ The grave of Niki Lauda. In: knerger.de. Retrieved June 25, 2019 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b} Angelika Hager, Michael Nikbakhsh: "Death was always an option": conversation about mistakes, insults and women. In: profil.at. February 9, 2009; archived from the original on February 13, 2013 ; Retrieved September 10, 2013 . 
18. ↑ «" The best is champion "» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna September 9, 1975, p. 24 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
19. ^ "Annemarie Moser and Franz Klammer Austria's athletes 1975" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 20, 1975, p. 14 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
20. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , pp. 88 f.
21. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , p. 92.
22. ↑ Gerald Donaldson: James Hunt. The biography. Virgin Books, London 2003, ISBN 0-7535-0735-8 , p. 195.
23. ↑ Michael Schmidt: Niki Lauda on the Nürburgring accident: "Fall into a hole and think I'll die." In: auto-motor-und-sport.de , August 22, 2016, accessed on October 21, 2019.
24. ↑ ^{a b c} Mike Doodson for F150: Formula 1: 50 Golden Years Volume III. 1999.
25. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , pp. 162 f.
26. ↑ Niki Lauda: My story. ORAC-Verlag, ISBN 3-7015-0025-8 , p. 74, hardcover
27. ^ Anxious days in August 1976 - Niki Lauda fights for his life
28. ↑ How Niki Lauda survived in Mannheim
29. ↑ Mike Lang: Grand Prix! Vol 3. Haynes Publishing Group, 1983, ISBN 0-85429-380-9 .
30. ↑ ^{a b c} Helmut Zwickl for F150: Formula 1: 50 golden years Volume I 1998.
31. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , pp. 186 f.
32. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , p. 187.
33. ↑ Tom Rubython: In the Name of Glory - 1976 Myrtle Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9565656-9-3 , p. 210.
34. ^ Nigel Roebuck: Stars of Formula 1 Serag AG, Pfäffikon 1986, ISBN 3-908007-15-1 , p. 93.
35. ^ Nigel Roebuck: Stars of Formula 1 Serag AG, Pfäffikon 1986, ISBN 3-908007-15-1 , p. 89.
36. ↑ "Honor the athletes and the 1500 m record" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna May 21, 1978, p. 23 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
37. ↑ "Why drive in circles like a fool?" SPIEGEL reporter Hans Halter on Niki Lauda's attempt at comeback , Der Spiegel January 18, 1982
38. ^ Nigel Roebuck: Stars of the Formula 1 Serag AG, Pfäffikon 1986, ISBN 3-908007-15-1 , p. 91.
39. ↑ Malcolm Folley: Senna versus Prost Century, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84605-540-9 , pp. 79 ff.
40. ↑ Benz World: Race report dated May 12, 1984. In: BenzWorld.org. Retrieved December 2, 2011 . 
41. ↑ List of results from the show race on May 12, 1984 at the Nürburgring. In: PistonHeads.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011 . 
42. ↑ When Niki Lauda beat team-mate Alain Prost to the F1 title by half a point. theguardian.com, accessed November 19, 2014 . 
43. ↑ Malcolm Folley: Senna versus Prost Century, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84605-540-9 , pp. 134f.
44. ↑ Christopher Hilton: Alain Prost - Serag born to be world champion , 1992, ISBN 3-908007-73-9 .
45. ↑ Christopher Hilton: Alain Prost - Serag born to be world champion , 1992, ISBN 3-908007-73-9 .
46. ^ Nigel Roebuck: Stars of the Formula 1 Serag AG, Pfäffikon 1986, ISBN 3-908007-15-1 , p. 89 f.
47. ↑ “I never considered early on that Niki could beat me to the championship. That was a mistake! " motorsportmagazine.com, accessed September 3, 2016 . 
48. ^ Nigel Roebuck: Stars of the Formula 1 Serag AG, Pfäffikon 1986, ISBN 3-908007-15-1 , p. 86.
49. ↑ «Lauda's farewell like a champion» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna November 4, 1985, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
50. ↑ Million deal : Air Berlin increases shares in Niki Lauda's airline. In: spiegel.de. 5th July 2010.
51. ↑ Niki Lauda flies on Air Berlin. In: handelsblatt .com. November 8, 2011, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
52. ↑ Laudamotion deleted "Motion" from the name. In: orf.at , March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
53. ↑ Niki Lauda back in the aviation business. Kronen Zeitung, 7 January 2016.
54. ↑ Niki Lauda sells again - to Ryanair. The press, March 21, 2018.
55. ↑ Ryanair takes over all shares of Laudamotion. Spiegel Online, January 29, 2019.
56. ↑ Niki Lauda leaves the Lauda management team. In: airliners.de , March 22, 2019.
57. ↑ Soulblader356: Nikki Lauda !!! Polak Kubica. May 16, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2017 . 
58. ↑ Lauda apologizes to Kubica for "Polacken-Sager". In: motorsport-total.com. May 20, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2017 . 
59. ↑ Lauda becomes the Mercedes supervisory board. Focus Online, September 28, 2012.
60. ↑ Wolff and Lauda buy Mercedes shares. In: motorsport-total.com , January 21, 2013. Accessed October 8, 2013.
61. ↑ Lauda leaves LaudaMotion. Der Standard, October 7, 2009.
62. ↑ Jutta Berger: Lauda as a witness in Vaduz: “Most serious fraud”. In: The Standard . October 17, 2012, accessed October 17, 2012 . 
63. ^ Money Service Group Process - Niki Lauda incriminated Seidl. In: vol.at. October 17, 2012, accessed October 18, 2012 . 
64. ↑ Niki Lauda: That's why he's been wearing a red cap since 1976. In: motorsport-total.com. November 5, 2017, accessed May 21, 2019 . 
65. ↑ Niki Lauda outraged about "gay dancing". In: queer.de , January 24, 2011.
66. ^ Alan Clayson: George Harrison. Sanctuary, London 2003. pp. 366 f.
67. ↑ Vanessa Georgoulas: Formula 1 star Niki Lauda: Laureus for life's work! In: speedweek.com. April 19, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016 . 
68. ↑ Award: Niki will receive athletes of the year in future. In: orf.at. October 16, 2019, accessed October 16, 2019 . 
69. ^ Vienna Airport names the approach to Niki Lauda. In: heute.at. December 3, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 . 
70. ↑ Niki Lauda gets an avenue posthumously. In: diepresse.com. December 3, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 . 
71. ↑ The future's birthday - 100 years of automobile in the Internet Movie Database (English)
72. ↑ Legends (02x02): Niki Lauda. In: Fernsehserien.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 . 
73. ↑ On your own - How athletes overcome strokes of fate. In: Crew-United.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019 . 
74. ↑ Rush - Everything for Victory in the Internet Movie Database (English)
75. ↑ Lauda “Heimspiel” at the premiere of “Rush”. In: Wien.ORF.at. October 1, 2013, accessed November 27, 2019 . 
76. ↑ 33 Days - Born To Be Wild. In: Fernsehserien.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 . 
77. ↑ Lauda: The Untold Story. In: Moviepilot.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 . 
78. ↑ Mayday - Alarm in the cockpit (14x02): Niki Lauda: Tragedy in Thailand. In: Fernsehserien.de. Retrieved November 27, 2019 . 
79. ↑ Otto Zuber: "Summa cum Lauda": ServusTV honors Niki Lauda with a documentary. In: Speedweek.com. June 20, 2019, accessed November 27, 2019 .